A computer program will recognize both = and == as the equality operator.

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We have discussed Introduction to Operators in C where we got an overall idea of what types of Operators, C and C++ support, and its basic implementations. Following that, we studied Arithmetic Operators where we got a detailed understanding of the types and use of Arithmetic operators in C and C++. In this article, let’s try to understand the types and uses of Relational and Logical Operators.

Relational Operators Relational operators are used for the comparison of two values to understand the type of relationship a pair of number shares. For example, less than, greater than, equal to, etc. Let’s see them one by one

Equal to operator: Represented as ‘==’, the equal to operator checks whether the two given operands are equal or not. If so, it returns true. Otherwise, it returns false. For example, 5==5 will return true.
Not equal to operator: Represented as ‘!=’, the not equal to operator checks whether the two given operands are equal or not. If not, it returns true. Otherwise, it returns false. It is the exact boolean complement of the ‘==’ operator. For example, 5!=5 will return false.
Greater than operator: Represented as ‘>’, the greater than operator checks whether the first operand is greater than the second operand or not. If so, it returns true. Otherwise, it returns false. For example, 6>5 will return true.
Less than operator: Represented as ‘<‘, the less than operator checks whether the first operand is lesser than the second operand. If so, it returns true. Otherwise, it returns false. For example, 6<5 will return false.
Greater than or equal to operator: Represented as ‘>=’, the greater than or equal to operator checks whether the first operand is greater than or equal to the second operand. If so, it returns true else it returns false. For example, 5>=5 will return true.
Less than or equal to operator: Represented as ‘<=’, the less than or equal to operator checks whether the first operand is less than or equal to the second operand. If so, it returns true else false. For example, 5<=5 will also return true.

Examples:

 
        printf("a is greater than b\n");

        printf("a is less than or equal to b\n");

        printf("a is greater than or equal to b\n");

        printf("a is lesser than b\n");

        printf("a is less than b\n");

        printf("a is greater than or equal to b\n");

        printf("a is lesser than or equal to b\n");

        printf("a is greater than b\n");

        printf("a is equal to b\n");

        printf("a and b are not equal\n");

        printf("a is not equal to b\n");

        printf("a is equal b\n");

 
        cout << "a is greater than b\n";

        cout << "a is less than or equal to b\n";

        cout << "a is greater than or equal to b\n";

        cout << "a is lesser than b\n";

        cout << "a is less than b\n";

        cout << "a is greater than or equal to b\n";

        cout << "a is lesser than or equal to b\n";

        cout << "a is greater than b\n";

        cout << "a is equal to b\n";

        cout << "a and b are not equal\n";

        cout << "a is not equal to b\n";

        cout << "a is equal b\n";

Output: a is greater than b a is greater than or equal to b a is greater than or equal to b a is greater than b a and b are not equal a is not equal to b

Logical Operators: They are used to combine two or more conditions/constraints or to complement the evaluation of the original condition under consideration. They are described below:

Logical AND operator: The ‘&&’ operator returns true when both the conditions under consideration are satisfied. Otherwise, it returns false. For example, a && b returns true when both a and b are true (i.e. non-zero).
Logical OR operator: The ‘||’ operator returns true even if one (or both) of the conditions under consideration is satisfied. Otherwise, it returns false. For example, a || b returns true if one of a or b, or both are true (i.e. non-zero). Of course, it returns true when both a and b are true.
Logical NOT operator: The ‘!’ operator returns true the condition in consideration is not satisfied. Otherwise, it returns false. For example, !a returns true if a is false, i.e. when a=0.

Examples:

int a = 10, b = 4, c = 10, d = 20;

printf("a is greater than b AND c is equal to d\n");

printf("AND condition not satisfied\n");

printf("a is greater than b OR c is equal to d\n");

printf("Neither a is greater than b nor c is equal "

int a = 10, b = 4, c = 10, d = 20;

cout << "a is greater than b AND c is equal to d\n";

cout << "AND condition not satisfied\n";

cout << "a is greater than b OR c is equal to d\n";

cout << "Neither a is greater than b nor c is equal "

Output: AND condition not satisfied a is greater than b OR c is equal to d a is not zero

Short-Circuiting in Logical Operators:

In the case of logical AND, the second operand is not evaluated if the first operand is false. For example, program 1 below doesn’t print “GeeksQuiz” as the first operand of logical AND itself is false.

bool res = ((a == b) && printf("GeeksQuiz"));

bool res = ((a == b) && cout << "GeeksQuiz");

But the below program prints “GeeksQuiz” as the first operand of logical AND is true.

bool res = ((a != b) && printf("GeeksQuiz"));

bool res = ((a != b) && cout << "GeeksQuiz");

In the case of logical OR, the second operand is not evaluated if the first operand is true. For example, program 1 below doesn’t print “GeeksQuiz” as the first operand of logical OR itself is true.

bool res = ((a != b) || printf("GeeksQuiz"));

bool res = ((a != b) || cout << "GeeksQuiz");

But the below program prints “GeeksQuiz” as the first operand of logical OR is false.

bool res = ((a == b) || printf("GeeksQuiz"));

bool res = ((a == b) || cout << "GeeksQuiz");

Quiz on Operators in CThis article is contributed by Ayush Jaggi. Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or if you want to share more information about the topic discussed above

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